Anti-Bacterial Toilet Seat

ABSTRACT

The anti-bacterial toilet seat unit includes a toilet seat which may be attached by hinges or joints to a seat cover/lid which may have attachments designed to attach to a toilet, where at least one or more parts previously mentioned are manufactured in a way so as to be permanently or semi-permanently coated in a substance that kills and/or eliminates one or more of the following: bacteria, viruses, fungi, or other harmful microbes. When said seat unit is coated in said substance, it is resistant to wear and thus retains the substance coating in a permanent or semi-permanent fashion. Said toilet seat unit may be attached to a toilet which may also be coated in said substance to produce a greater area of decontamination.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not Applicable

REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention involves a new toilet seat unit that has been designed to continuously disinfect itself without need of any energy, fluids, mechanical means, or human assistance.

2. Brief Description of Prior Technology

Due to the type of use a toilet receives, it is apparent that toilets require some type of regular cleaning if they are meant to be somewhat sanitary. Many different inventions have attempted to solve this issue by establishing various methods for decontaminating a toilet or toilet seat automatically.

One solution involves sprays or chemical drips that occur at regular intervals to clean the seat and/or toilet bowl. This option can be costly to replenish the chemicals, and does not guarantee a sanitary seat between treatments.

Another solution is to have a plastic sleeve that circulates around the seat, or to offer paper covers that can be placed directly on the seat. A sleeve type device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,693 D'Aleo; Joseph entitled Sanitary Toilet Seat. These types of options are wasteful of paper and plastic products, and thus are costly to maintain over time. They are also perceived to be unpleasant to sit upon, as they tend to stick to skin.

One more solution is to employ mechanical means of scrubbing, wiping, rinsing, or otherwise cleaning a toilet. One example is patented under U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,158 of YU; Yi-Cheh. This device is described as having gearing which causes the toilet seat to be rotated 360 degrees as it is cleaned. These types of solutions can be very complex and expensive to maintain. They can also pose a safety hazard to elderly or small children, due to the automatic moving parts.

In summary, there are numerous methods of attempting to sanitize toilets and toilet seats. However, most of them generate waste, are costly to replenish or maintain, and can pose safety hazards to small children or elderly persons.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is thus the purpose of this Invention to provide a toilet seat unit that continuously self-disinfects without need of chemical sprays, wipes, sleeves, mechanical devices, or human effort in order to offer a sanitary toilet without encountering the issues previously mentioned in the Background of the Invention section. This toilet seat unit shall look and function as any standard toilet seat might, yet the material it is composed of will cause it to continuously disinfect itself. This toilet seat unit will be coated in a substance that will kill or eliminate harmful micro-organisms. The substance will be safe for human and animal contact, and will be applied to the seat unit in such a fashion that this coating it will become a permanent part of the seat. By accomplishing the task of decontaminating itself in this method, this toilet seat unit will have solved the problems posed by previous attempted solutions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 shows one example of a standard style of toilet seat that has been coated in the anti-bacterial substance.

FIG. 1A shows an enlarged view of the toilet seat hinges that have also been coated in the anti-bacterial substance.

FIG. 2 shows the anti-bacterial toilet seat unit attached to a typical toilet. This toilet may also be coated in said substance if desired.

FIG. 2A shows the anti-bacterial toilet seat unit having been removed from the toilet. It also shows that a sectional view will be cut at two separate sections. A sectional view will be cut from the toilet seat lid/cover (shown at point I) and will be depicted in FIG. 2B. A sectional view will also be cut from the toilet seat (shown at point II) and will be depicted in FIG. 2C.

FIG. 2B shows a cross section of the toilet seat cover/lid. It can be seen that this cross section has two distinct layers. The inner layer can be composed of any type of material that is chosen in the construction of a toilet or toilet seat lid. However, the thin outer layer is composed of the substance that gives the toilet seat cover/lid its anti-bacterial properties.

FIG. 2C shows a cross section of the toilet seat. It can be seen that that there are two separate drawings here. This is to show that although the toilet seat may have a horseshoe shape, the entire surface area can be coated in the anti-bacterial substance. By examining each section, it becomes apparent that the cross section has two distinct layers. The inner layer can be composed of any type of material that is chosen in the construction of a toilet seat. However, the thin outer layer is composed of the substance that gives the toilet seat its anti-bacterial properties.

DETIALED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

According to a detailed description of this Invention, there is described an anti-bacterial toilet seat unit that is composed of:

A toilet seat unit that is manufactured in a way, so as to be permanently or semi-permanently coated in a substance that kills and/or eliminates one or more of the following: bacteria, viruses, fungi, or other harmful microbes. It may be noted by viewing FIG. 2B, that this substance is preferably to be applied to the entire surface area of the toilet seat lid/cover. It may further be noted by viewing FIG. 2C, that the same principle is used in coating the entire surface area of the toilet seat. It would be obvious to anyone skilled in the art of this science, that the same principle can be applied to any part of a toilet or toilet seat. In FIG. 1 and FIG. 1A, such an example is shown by the depiction of a toilet seat, toilet lid, and hinges which have all been coated in said substance. This concept is further depicted in FIG. 2 by a sketch of an entire toilet which may be coated in said substance.

Said substance which can be composed of, but is not limited to; the precious metal Silver in Ionic form. It should be apparent that there may be numerous different types and compositions of said substance that could make up the coating layer for said toilet seat unit. However, for practicality and justification of this invention, one possible substance shall be focused on, and thus has been and will be referred to as said substance; although it should be noted that this substance may be switched out for other substances in the future, and applied to this invention in the same manner to evoke the same desired results. This invention is meant to cover any type of substances that may be used as a coating/layer in such a toilet seat unit. The substance that shall be focused on as an example of practicality of this invention is Silver. When Silver is applied to an object in Ionic form, it creates a layer or coating that is toxic to bacteria, fungi, and a multitude of micro-organisms. Said substance has been shown to kill E. coli and Staph immediately, as well as most bacteria within thirty seconds of when said organisms come in contact with said substance. Said substance has been shown to eliminate viruses and fungi within 10 minutes. Additionally; said substance has been proven to be environmentally friendly as it is non-toxic to humans, animals, and plants. In fact, silver's medicinal and anti-bacterial qualities have been known for hundreds of years. Even today, silver is used in constructing medical instruments to promote a sterile environment. The concept of this anti-bacterial substance technology is currently being used in certain faucet handles, door handles, keyboards, and even ballpoint pens. However, no attempt has been made, until this invention; to apply this technology to the much needed problem of toilet seat sanitation.

A toilet seat unit that when coated in said substance, is resistant to wear, and thus retains the substance coating in a fashion that said unit and coating can, but is not required to; last for an extended period of time if not the life of said toilet seat unit itself.

Said toilet seat unit that will/may have an attached seat cover/lid which purpose is to cover the toilet and seat, as well as said toilet seat unit will/may have attached hinge/hinges or ball joint/ball joints or other device/devices whose purpose is to attach the cover/lid to the seat as well as to attach the seat to the toilet. It should be apparent that said toilet seat unit may, but is not required to; posses all previously mentioned parts, and may even posses other parts. The main factor is that said toilet seat unit possesses at least one part, if not all parts; that is/are coated in said substance to produce the desired anti-bacterial effect previously mentioned. It should also be noted that this invention is meant to include any type of toilet seat, toilet lid, or toilet seat unit attachments that are coated in such a substance as previously described, as it is this concept of the substance coating the toilet seat unit that sets this invention apart from any standard toilet seat unit.

Said toilet seat unit may be attached to a toilet which may also be coated in said substance to produce a greater area of decontamination. However, said toilet seat unit may also be attached to a toilet that has not been coated with said substance.

Said toilet seat unit may be coated in a layer of said substance in varying degrees of thickness depending on the preference of the manufacturer or consumer. To anyone who is skilled in the art of which this invention pertains, it would be obvious as to the relative simplicity of this invention. This invention can be applied to any design or type of modern toilet or toilet attachment. In this instance, modern is meant to imply any toilet or toilet attachment that could be found for sale at a store or on the internet, currently or in the future. The simplicity lies in the fact that this invention in no way attempts to redesign the appearance or mechanical operation of a toilet. For this reason, no attempt will be made to describe the construction of a toilet seat, toilet cover/lid, or other type of toilet seat unit. However, for sake of clarity; a depiction of a preferred embodiment of a toilet seat unit has been shown in FIG. 2A. This depiction shows a typical toilet seat design that is attached to a lid with hinges, and has further attached hinges for the purpose of mounting to a toilet. Said substance will preferably be coated evenly around the seat, and/or the lid, and/or the hinges. This invention can be applied to any past, present, or future toilet and toilet attachment designs. For example, most toilet seat units on the market today can be categorized into two basic groups; soft and spongy toilet seat units, and solid hard toilet seat units. This invention can be incorporate into both styles.

Said invention may be applied to the soft style of toilet seat unit. As an example, this anti-bacterial concept is currently being used to make specialized anti-bacterial pens. Silver in Ionic form is imbedded in a plastic/rubber material and then coated around a pen. Said substance simply needs to be infused/mixed into a soft material such as, but not limited to; plastic or rubber, and then applied to the toilet seat unit to form the protective coating/layer.

Said invention may be applied to the solid/firm style of toilet seat unit. As an example, this anti-bacterial concept is currently being used in refrigerators and door handles. Silver in Ionic form would be applied to the toilet seat unit to form a thin yet complete coating. To anyone skilled in the art of this science, this would be a relatively simple process. Said substance will coat one or more parts of said toilet seat unit, thus offering the anti-bacterial qualities without any of the hassles involved in the prior arts of this invention. 

1. An anti-bacterial toilet seat unit comprising: a toilet seat that has been coated in a substance that kills and/or eliminates one or more of the following: bacteria, viruses, fungi, or other harmful microbes; in which said toilet seat has been coated in said substance which is intended to remain intact and fixed on said toilet seat permanently or semi-permanently, in order to disinfect said toilet seat continuously without the need of energy, chemical sprays, chemical wipes, sleeves, paper, mechanical devices, or human effort.
 2. An anti-bacterial toilet seat unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the seat has an attached lid or cover that moves on hinges or swivels to cover said seat; in which any number of parts from one part to all parts of said seat, which include but are not limited to: the cover which covers the seat, the seat which is meant to be sat upon, the hinge/hinges or device/devices that attach said cover to said seat, and the device/devices that attach said seat to a toilet; are coated in said substance.
 3. An anti-bacterial toilet seat unit as claimed in claim 2, in which said seat and said parts are attached to a toilet which is similarly coated in said substance. 